The field hospital is being built in partnership with the Mount Sinai Health System. Elliott Tenpenny, a team leader for the Samaritan’s Purse organisation, said that the hospital is expected to have 68 beds.
Tenpenny added that the facility will have 10 beds equipped to provide intensive care treatment. Between 60 and 70 medical professionals will be able to work at the temporary facility, he added.
The humanitarian organisation has already built a field hospital in Italy to treat patients at the epicentre of Europe’s COVID-19 outbreak. The makeshift clinic in the Italian city of Cremona in Lombardy is comprised of 14 tents.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio told reporters on Sunday evening that over 670 people have died in the city after contracting the disease, with a total of 32,300 cases having been confirmed since the start of the outbreak.
Authorities in the city have ordered all non-essential businesses to shut down, banned social gatherings of any size and directed residents to remain at a distance of six feet from one another. Residents who do not comply with the guidelines on social distancing may face a fine of up to $500.